Monday, January 9, 2017

Knowing your
consumer is the hallmark of all successful brands. But the level of consumer
understanding differs which decides whether a brand is enduring or non - enduring.
Godrej, a 119 – year old company lives
on this. The brand enjoy a prominent position in the mind of the customers.

Godrej, over the
years has been an undisputed leader in the home insecticide market. Good Knight
mosquito repellent is moving way ahead of its competitors in sales volume as
well as innovation. Good knight took a variety of forms from a coil to liquid
to paper. All were instant hit in the market. The flip side is that all these
products are in home.

Various research
found that mosquito bite during day time causes Dengue, Chickungunia etc. Moreover,
kids are more vulnerable to these bites. Good Knight very recently unveiled
Good Knight Fabric Roll – on which is an innovative solution for the above. The product is a roll – on which can be
applied on the dress of the kid and can protect the kid from mosquitoes for 8
hours. Since the product is hardly three months old, the fate is uncertain.

To me the brand
is building upon its established identity and tries to be a complete solution
for mosquito bites. Before segmentation, the category (read household
insecticide) has been divided into in the home and out of the home. Good Knight
Fabric Roll – on fits into the second category. A 50 gm pack can be applied daily
on two children for 30 days. The Roll – on is targeted to two segments viz. kids
(infants to age 12 – 13) and mothers. Since, the product is 100% natural the
company promises no skin allergies or side effects. Despite, being a lone
player in the category the pricing is reasonable (50 gm for Rs. 75). The Roll
on comes with a hole on top which helps you to hold it in a key chain.

A study
by AC Neilsen found that only 30% of the population in India are regular users
of even perfumes and deo sprays. So it will be tough to create habit. The TVC
(see the ad) developed is trying to address this challenge. The message also urges the kids
to go out and play (since kids today play more of indoor video games or watch
TV). To me the stage is perfect for Good Knight to earn a healthy market share
of the new category till competition emerge.

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

If situation is tough join the
bandwagon. Colgate, the market leader in the oral care segment which holds a market
share of around 55% feels the heat for the past couple of years. Thanks to Baba
Ram Dev promoted Patanjali’s Dant Kanti tooth paste. Competition is not
alien to Colgate as it had faced challenges in the past from HUL’s Close UP &
Pepsodent and also from Sensodyne. But
this time the position of Colgate is in jeopardy.

Even though the entry and success
of Patanjali was swift, one cannot say that there was no time for other players
to react. The consumer behaviour over the last decade had shown a slow shift
towards organic/ herbal/ natural products. The consumers of India are more
health conscious today compared to previous years. In fact, the likes of Babool
tooth paste had a market in India. This prompted Colgate to launch Colgate
Herbal through which they filled the gap in their portfolio.

Another shift in consumer
behaviour which is evident is a sense of patriotism, spiritual inclination
which was well cashed in by Patanjali. The trust people have in an Indian Ayurveda
brand is substantial. All these prompted Colgate to unveil (although it was a
reactive strategy) Cibaca Vedshakthi aimed squarely at Dant Kanti. This is the first
indigenous brand for Colgate in the Ayurveda segment. To me this a nice move so
that it can defend its position in the market as it enjoys a high brand loyalty
even today.

For the market leader Colgate, I
feel that VedShakti fills the armoury to go ahead with a flank attack on
Patanjali. It have now Colgate Herbal variants such as Active Salt Neem and
sensitive Clove tooth paste in one side and Vedshakti on the other side which
to me is a well-crafted strategy. The brand name chosen have a local flavour and
so may turn out beneficial for Colgate. Vedshakthi
is priced lower than Dant Kanti i.e. Rs. 50 for a 175gm pack (30% cheaper than
Dant Kanti). Efforts have been made to make the product rich in natural ingredients
(read effectiveness of product). They have positioned it as a toothpaste filled
with goodness of natural ingredients. The TVC (AD) of Vedshakthi follows a simple
route somewhat replicating Patanjali’s core communication strategy.

Is this positioning enough to combat
Patanjali? This is what my concern is. I am rather apprehensive that a
cannibalisation will happen with three brands in same Ayurveda space. Moreover can
Colgate outshine Baba effect? Only time decides.

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Ever since the
Nirbaya case, women security has been highlighted by a flurry of companies in
India especially mobile phone and mobile app makers. The toll free no. of the
government was the first initiative. Later, mobile phone makers and app makers
came with customisation options catering to the security of the women. But most
of these were futile as those attacking women usually grab their phone first. Moreover,
you need a smartphone to exploit all these options. Thus these products stand confined
to a small segment of the population. Titan have a solution for this.

Titan Industries
since its inception in 1986, concentrated more on innovation and disruption.
They changed the concept of watches in India and democratised the usage of
watches by Indians (through their brand SONATA). Further, they moved to jewellery
and optical. The brand SONATA is close to the heart of any middle class Indian.
They had a product in their kitty suited for different life style preferences
of people.

Recently, Sonata,
launched their safety watch called ACT – App-Enabled Coordinates Tracker -
designed exclusively for women. This one-of-a-kind safety watch makes use of
custom-made technology and will interface with the user’s smartphone to trigger
distress alerts to a network of designated recipients when needed (ACT).The watch and your smartphone is linkedand so if you press two times a
button in the watch distress alarm will be sent to the selected numbers in your
smartphones. One should praise the innovation but effectiveness as of now is
uncertain.

The watch is
priced between Rs.2,749 and Rs.2,999 and comes in three variants. Considering
its benefit I feel it is a fair deal as it is not priced high. But one
disadvantage is that a lot of smart watches are cheaper than ACT. I feel that
the product have an upper hand with its good looking and stylish design which
smart watches misses out.

The first
impression to me is that ACT is a smart marriage of style and security but how
it fair in the market; let’s wait and watch.